‘What
do we do now?’
By Franklin A. Holman
On-line Forty-Niner
I
remember seeing a poster with the three
stooges in their graduation caps and gowns
standing bewildered with a caption below
that said, “What do we do now?” It seems
funny, but there is some truth found within
the unpredictability that lies beyond college
graduation.
I never thought of what graduation would
entail until the time drew so near, and
still, it is hard to fathom. As far as school
went, I took things one day at a time, and
now that my accomplishment has been met,
I am left with mixed feelings of joy and
uncertainty of what the future will hold.
When I began pondering beyond education,
words such as workforce and steady job entered
my mind, and these words brought about feelings
of stagnant, endless and unrewarding pursuits.
I thought that once I entered the workforce
that was it. But these feelings were confronted
with the knowledge that new and greater
accomplishments would be made within an
advancing career.
I became so involved in education; I forgot
that part of the point of school was to
prepare for a career. I found comfort in
the fact that education sets us up to make
the decisions in our career that affects
society. Political science majors make the
choices that alter humanity; journalism
majors affect social norms, and communicative
disorder majors will provide support for
those with speech and hearing handicaps.
These are the types of endeavors that education
sets us up for.
The reward is finding how we as college
graduates can better humankind and then
achieving that goal within, or outside,
the scope of our specialization. Satisfaction
is not merely acquired through the gaining
of the diploma but in applying our knowledge
to serve our fellow man. This fact is reinforced
and reinforces the Biblical verse from the
book of Acts where Paul said, “In everything
I did, I showed you that by this kind of
hard work we must help the weak, remembering
the words Jesus himself said, ‘It is more
blessed to give than to receive.’”
Keeping these words in mind, we as graduates
should progress spreading knowledge, sharing
experiences and using our talents to the
highest good we can imagine.
Looking back, I am very grateful to those
who encouraged me, gave me strength to endure,
shared insights with me and provided for
me a future to attain great accomplishments,
including my classmates, friends, brothers
in Christ, professors, parents and above
of all, the Lord.
So let us as graduates of Cal State Long
Beach move forward with great confidence
that we will attain vast and distinguished
achievements, allowing and creating betterment
for mankind.
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